Found In Translation
Today, “simple service” for me is simply giving back to others. There was a time when service meant serving me; pandering to my own selfish agenda, making a name for myself, etc. It’s taken me a lot of Step work and many inventories to be able to cut ego out of my motives for doing anything.
For the first quarter 2020 the income minus expenses was negative: -$12,476. The second quarter, thanks to the increased donations, showed quite a difference: $67,936!
The writer of Every Moment Is A “Given Moment” tells how his life in 12 Step recovery hit a slump at 14 years and how going to SA completely changed his life.
From the bottom of our hearts, the Trustees thank you for your years of service as editor of the Essay.
Dear Essay readers, We thank our retiring editor David M. for his long and devoted service to the Essay, and his example to us. We start this new chapter off with an international editing team consisting of an Irish, UK/Israeli, Australian, 2 US and a Belgian/Spanish member.
First quarter results were promising. Fellowship contributions were back to budget levels. Literature sales were returning to normal. Then the Corona Virus struck in mid-March. There was no warning, no ramp up, no play book. Our meeting room lights were shut off, not dimmed, but just dark.
For two days last March, 54 brothers and sisters in recovery from all of the face-to-face meetings in Mexico, came together to share how we live our lives in sobriety.
I wrote this poem way back in ‘92. I go back to it often, and thought I might share it with my SA community.
Surrender. I was too strong for that. Too many people were counting on my strength. Too many people would be horrified and hurt if they knew what I had done. So many lies in those few thoughts.
I do try to use the tools of the program in my recovery. But, on a given day, when it comes to actually sitting down and getting started, I can barely bring myself to do it. Overwhelmed by guilt and by the fear that my sponsor will fire me, I used to manage a slow start into Step work maybe once or twice a week.
